Worklog First portable G wii

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Hey everyone, this is my first portable I will ever be making so I need lots of help to know what kind of parts I need and how to put it together.
First of all what tools will I need for doing this project? And do I need a 3D printed case before I start putting the g wii together?
 

StonedEdge

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Hi, welcome to the forums! I built a G-Wii for my first portable as well so I feel like I should be able to help you out somewhat.

You’re going to need quite a few tools to get started in portablizing. The most obvious being a good soldering iron, I wouldn’t skimp out and get some Chinese shit, go for a good Weller soldering iron, or the Hakko FX888D if you can afford it. Something with temperature control is ideal. You’ll need plenty of wire to make connections between things. The connections between cells will require 22 AWG gauge wire, whilst you will want some 38 AWG magnet wire for Bluetooth and other data line connections. I personally like using 30 AWG kynar wire for things like audio and GC+ wiring as it’s easy to route and keep things neat inside the case.

As for using shielded wire, I usually will twist magnet wires in pairs with ground to reduce interference on the video and audio lines. I recently did this on a portable I was building and had absolutely no interference at all. Magnet wire has an enamel coating and is very thin. You can simply strip the coating by heating the wire back and forth in a solder blob on the end of your iron to expose the copper. Highly recommend this stuff. You’ll need it if you want to relocate the Bluetooth module, as those traces are very very thin (0.1mm iirc).

You don’t necessarily need the case to start portablizing (obviously you verify a working wii trim with just a power bench supply, or with batteries, PMS and regs) so it’s not 100% necessary to get started with the case, although I don’t see any reason not to have the case on hand.

A hot air station can be really useful for SMD rework but it certainly isn’t necessary to put together a portable in my opinion. Finally, other miscellaneous things you will find useful are things like tweezers for wire routing and holding wires, flux for soldering to Wii vias, solder for soldering (duh), wire strippers, cutters, and finally, I’d recommend getting some soldering braid as well which makes removing solder a breeze if you make any mistakes.

Obviously you’ll need a BOM of components as well to build the G-Wii, but Gman has posted a list of parts in his original post you can use. I’d recommend also watching Noah’s YouTube live-streams as well, and checking out the internals of the G-Wii to give you a better idea on the build process and the order of operations to get a feel for the build.

Good luck! I remember starting out and there’s a lot of things to buy at the outset, but if you make a small list it’ll help you keep track of all the things you need to get started.
 
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Ok, thank you! I will be posting on here more once I get started!
 
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Just wondering what some good sites to get parts for the g wii are. Ive never shopped for this kinda thing so I don't know what sites have the best price and best quality.
 

Gman

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Just wondering what some good sites to get parts for the g wii are. Ive never shopped for this kinda thing so I don't know what sites have the best price and best quality.
Bitbuilt store, ebay, amazon, there are so many different parts you can use. It would help us help you better if you asked more specific questions about specific parts or processes of the portable.
 
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Ok, so im kinda discouraged because ive just been thinking I cant do it cause its so complicated but I really want to build this or something like this. Should I keep trying to make a G wii or make something a little simpler? I kinda think I should order a kit that has all the parts to a portable so that I under stand how the G wii works more so. What would be good kits for a portable? I dont really care what kind of games it would emulate.
 

Gman

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Ok, so im kinda discouraged because ive just been thinking I cant do it cause its so complicated but I really want to build this or something like this. Should I keep trying to make a G wii or make something a little simpler? I kinda think I should order a kit that has all the parts to a portable so that I under stand how the G wii works more so. What would be good kits for a portable? I dont really care what kind of games it would emulate.
Which part are you confused about? Just break it down into small manageable tasks and eventually it will come together.
 
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Well I think I would be able to put it together if I had all the parts but I need someone to tell me just one or two parts to buy for building it from scratch, what would those parts be? I know that StonedEdge said some parts but I need just one or two things to buy for getting it started. Also how would I get a 3D printed case if I don't even have a 3D printer...
Should I start with something a little simpler?
 

Gman

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Well I think I would be able to put it together if I had all the parts but I need someone to tell me just one or two parts to buy for building it from scratch, what would those parts be? I know that StonedEdge said some parts but I need just one or two things to buy for getting it started. Also how would I get a 3D printed case if I don't even have a 3D printer...
Should I start with something a little simpler?
Some of the parts you need are obviously the wii, gc+, 18650 batteries. And also some sort of custom regulators, battery protection, a screen, audio amp, controls etc. There are several people on the forums with 3d printers that can print it for you like @GingerOfOz
 
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Ive got a wii but not a gc+, could I just buy the GC+ replacement controller board from the Bit Built shop?
 

Alp

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Hi, welcome to the forums! I built a G-Wii for my first portable as well so I feel like I should be able to help you out somewhat.

You’re going to need quite a few tools to get started in portablizing. The most obvious being a good soldering iron, I wouldn’t skimp out and get some Chinese shit, go for a good Weller soldering iron, or the Hakko FX888D if you can afford it. Something with temperature control is ideal. You’ll need plenty of wire to make connections between things. The connections between cells will require 22 AWG gauge wire, whilst you will want some 38 AWG magnet wire for Bluetooth and other data line connections. I personally like using 30 AWG kynar wire for things like audio and GC+ wiring as it’s easy to route and keep things neat inside the case.

As for using shielded wire, I usually will twist magnet wires in pairs with ground to reduce interference on the video and audio lines. I recently did this on a portable I was building and had absolutely no interference at all. Magnet wire has an enamel coating and is very thin. You can simply strip the coating by heating the wire back and forth in a solder blob on the end of your iron to expose the copper. Highly recommend this stuff. You’ll need it if you want to relocate the Bluetooth module, as those traces are very very thin (0.1mm iirc).

You don’t necessarily need the case to start portablizing (obviously you verify a working wii trim with just a power bench supply, or with batteries, PMS and regs) so it’s not 100% necessary to get started with the case, although I don’t see any reason not to have the case on hand.

A hot air station can be really useful for SMD rework but it certainly isn’t necessary to put together a portable in my opinion. Finally, other miscellaneous things you will find useful are things like tweezers for wire routing and holding wires, flux for soldering to Wii vias, solder for soldering (duh), wire strippers, cutters, and finally, I’d recommend getting some soldering braid as well which makes removing solder a breeze if you make any mistakes.

Obviously you’ll need a BOM of components as well to build the G-Wii, but Gman has posted a list of parts in his original post you can use. I’d recommend also watching Noah’s YouTube live-streams as well, and checking out the internals of the G-Wii to give you a better idea on the build process and the order of operations to get a feel for the build.

Good luck! I remember starting out and there’s a lot of things to buy at the outset, but if you make a small list it’ll help you keep track of all the things you need to get started.
So I just found videos of building a portable wii and I have an extra one sitting around that I don't use and literally nobody has made a detailed tutorial of how to make it, I'm literally only 12 and want to figure this out, is there some sort of list of items needed? My dads an engineer so I'm sure he knows about this but I need to find parts and things.
 

Noah

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So I just found videos of building a portable wii and I have an extra one sitting around that I don't use and literally nobody has made a detailed tutorial of how to make it, I'm literally only 12 and want to figure this out, is there some sort of list of items needed? My dads an engineer so I'm sure he knows about this but I need to find parts and things.
There is no step by step guide on how to build a portable. There might be in the future at some point, but even then each build is different so the instructions won't be able to be followed 100% to the tee.

Your best bet is to read the rules for the forums and read through all of the guides and most popular posts in the Wii section to start off. Once you have a more general understanding of what building a portable takes, read through worklogs thoroughly as they are the next best thing to a step by step guide.
 

Alp

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There is no step by step guide on how to build a portable. There might be in the future at some point, but even then each build is different so the instructions won't be able to be followed 100% to the tee.

Your best bet is to read the rules for the forums and read through all of the guides and most popular posts in the Wii section to start off. Once you have a more general understanding of what building a portable takes, read through worklogs thoroughly as they are the next best thing to a step by step guide.
Ok also, is there any other recommendations for a portable console I could make, I really want to do a project like this and I want to get into soldering and circuits.
 

Stitches

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Ok also, is there any other recommendations for a portable console I could make, I really want to do a project like this and I want to get into soldering and circuits.
The G-Wii case is a good starting point. It has easy to use screwposts and mounts, plus heaps of space for routing wires.

Besides that, you could try your hand at one of the many raspberry pi emulation station kits that are out there. Most come with all required parts besides a screwdriver and soldering iron. That'd be a more gentle introduction, with a near guaranteed usable result.
 
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So I just found videos of building a portable wii and I have an extra one sitting around that I don't use and literally nobody has made a detailed tutorial of how to make it, I'm literally only 12 and want to figure this out, is there some sort of list of items needed? My dads an engineer so I'm sure he knows about this but I need to find parts and things.
Search Sudomod mintypi v3, i feel that's a pretty good starting electronics project if you have experienced adult help. It's an rpi0 gaming device inside an altoids tin. You can buy everything you need from just 2 people (the tin, the 3d printed parts, the buttons, the pcbs and battery.) I also think they're going to have black friday sales.
 
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